Safety-gage for liquids.



- 1:". GETTELMAN.

SAFETY GAGE POR LIQUIDS. 'APPLIOATION FILED DB0. 1i, 19de.

, 1 ,027,721'. Patented May 28, 1912.

. @Wynn/245A Y COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH C0: NNNNNNNNNNNNNN c.

FREDERICK GETTELMAN, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN.

SAFETY-GAGE FOR LIQUIDS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 28,1912.

Application filed December 11, 1909. Serial No. 532,656.

To all whom t may concern Y Be it known t-hat I, FREDERICK GETTEL- MAN, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety-Gages for Liquids, and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,.clear, and exact description thereof.

The object of my invention is to provide a vsafety device especially applicable to feed water for boilers, its arrangement and construction being such that a permanent record is made whereby theheight of the water in a receptacle or boiler is indicated and thus shows at a glance the variation in said water height for a given period of time. The invention therefore consists in certain peculiarities of construction and combination of parts to be set forth hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings and subsequently claimed.

In the drawings Figure 1 shows a sectional elevation of a device embodying the features of my invention, being a combined lioat'and recording gage, and Fig. 2, a detail cross-section as indicated by line 2-2 of Fig. l. l

kReferring by characters to the drawings 1 indicates a two-part steam-tight float-casing the body portion of which is in the form of a cylindrical well having a water inletpipe'Q, which pipeis connectedto a boiler or other liquid receptacle. There is also connected to the float casing at its top an equalizing pipe 3, the same being connected to the boiler or receptacle above its water line,'by which arrangement a uniform water level in the boiler is maintained in said float casing, the water level thereinV being visibly indicated by the usual gage 1 connected above and below the maximum and minimum water levels. The upper well portion of the casing is provided with a laterally a5 extended chamber 5, and in the outer end of this chamber is mounted a spindle 6, having a conical end fitted in a conical recess to form one of its bearings, while the opposite end of said spindle projects through 'the chamber and has its bearing in a stuiiing box 7 The spindle 6 within the chamber carries a lever 8, which extends into the casing proper and has pivotally secured to its end a suitable float 9. As shown in Fig. 1

of the drawings, the floatis preferably provided with spring-guards l0, the free ends of which guards are recurved and serve to engage the adjacent sides of the casing to. hold and guide the float in its travel in an approximately central position relative to the walls of the well portion of said casing.

By utilizing a guided float in shackle or hinge connection with the lever 84 as described, it is apparent that said float is capable of direct vertical movement whereby a uniform thrust is applied to the end of said lever when the float rises and this construction permits of great float area with a minimum casing area resulting in economy of construction as well as insuring suiicient volume of water under the float to cause the same to respond quickly when power is required to actuate the device.

A short arm 11 is secured to the end of the spindle exterior of the chamber and this short arm is provided with a pin extension,

which is adapted to engage the forked end 12 of an oscillatory stylus lever 18. The lever 13 is fulcrumed to an ear 141, which ear extends from a gage-casing 15 that issecured to the walls of the chamber 5. The gage-casing is provided with a'suitable geartrain 16 as indicated by dotted lines in Fig.- 1, and a spring or weight motor, not shown. A central shaft 17 of the gage mechanism carries the usual circular 4index card 18, which card is revolved by a motor in any4 suitable manner. The details of the gage mechanism are immaterial to my invention, and it should be understood that any motordriven indicator card may be utilized, having a lever and stylus pen, orvother suitable marking device attached to its free end for recording variations of the water level upon the indicator card, which card is adapted to travel at approximately a right angle to movement of the stylus.

From the foregoing description it will be understood that shouldthe water level rise in the boiler or receptacle, the water contained in the well portion of the iioat casing will have a corresponding movement. As shown in Fig. l, the water level is at its lowest point and the lever 13, which is connected to lever 8, is'therefore at the zero point on the card. Now, should the water rise in the boiler and casing, the float 9 will cause lever 8 to move upward, assuming a position corresponding to the height of the' rise of the water.

The movement of the end 110 y of the 'stylus lever 13 will thereby describe of the card and, owing to the fact that the card is also being slowly rot-ated by the motor, the exact height or elevation of the water will be marked upon said card, which card is provided with the usual scaled lines arbitrarily indicating various heights of the water level. Should the level of the water fall, this action is repeated, and so on throughout the twenty-four hours of a day, the card will continually register and permanently indicate the various water levels in a positive manner.

The safety of this device is apparent when it is taken into consideration that, even though the water glass 4 would show a maximum height of water therein, this height may not under all conditions correspond to the water level height within the boiler and casing, due to the fact that slight deposits of mud or foreign matter, have been known to choke the inlet communication between the water gage and casing, and thus a false indication of the water level within the gage will frequently result in disaster. lVith my device such disasters are impossible owing` to the fact that movement of the lever within the casing is positively controlled by the iioat, particular attention being called to the fact that all valves or mechanism liable to become clogged are dispensed with and the single movable member of the device, to wit, the spindle 6, has only a single stuiiing box connection through which it extends to the exterior of said casing, and thus friction is reduced to the minimum, as well as all points of leakage from said casing, which casing it is understood, should be of suflicient strength to resist the highest steam pressure attainable. The hollow iioat 9, if desired, may contain air under pressure, whereby greater buoyancy is attained, and, if desired, the spindle 6 may be provided with a counterbalance for the lever 8, which counterbalance can be mounted upon the spindle 6 exterior of the casing.

From the foregoing it is apparent that the superintendent, or other oficial of a plant, can at all times inspect the condition of the water level maintained within the various boilers, and thus check up carelessness of employees, which carelessness could not, under ordinary conditions, be ascertained, the effect of this permanent record being to render more etlicient and careful regulation of feed water to boilers as well as to avoid accidents.

I claim:

A safety gage for liquids having a steamtight casing comprising a cylindrical well port-ion having a laterally disposed chamber extending therefrom at its upper end, water inlet and return pipe connections in the ends of the chambered portion of the casing, a spindle journaled within the walls of the laterally extended chamber portion of said casing, the spindle having one end extended therethrough, an oscillatory lever secured to the stem within the casing, a float disposed in the bottom well portion of the aforesaid casing, the float being pivotally connected to the free end of the oscillatory lever, radial spring guides secured to the body of the float having their free ends adapted to engage the walls of the ca sing well portion whereby t-he lateral play of said float with relation to the walls of the well is limited, an arm secured to the end of the spindle exterior of the aforesaid casing, a gage-casing secured to the exterior wall of the chamber extension, a motor-driven index card mounted in the gage-casing, and a stylus-lever for the index card connected to the arm.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing l have hereunto set my hand at Milwaukee in the county of Milwaukee and State of l/Visconsin in the presence of two witnesses.

FREDERICK GETTELMAN.

NVit-nesses MAY DowNEY, GEO. l/V. YOUNG.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

